


Thresholds Cross

by weaselett



Category: Sarah Jane Adventures, The Librarians (TV 2014), Warehouse 13
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 07:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12249975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weaselett/pseuds/weaselett
Summary: Sarah Jane Smith has seen the universe, and a few extra as well.





	1. The Metropolitan Public Library Welcomes You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hhertzof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhertzof/gifts).



People, or at least the people who know, always seem to assume that Sarah Jane considers her life to be split in three; before the Doctor, with the Doctor and after the Doctor. 

The truth is, she's never thought of her life like that, and if she ever had, it would have been split into far more pieces than that. Her time with the Doctor is far from her only adventure. Far from the only life altering experience in a life very well lived. Thank you very much.

After the Doctor, other doors opened.

The letter arrived three years after she'd been left in Aberdeen with K-9. She'd almost ignored it, bent on following her most recent lead, but then she'd started to wonder what, exactly, was so special about the Metropolitan Public Library. 

Hours waiting in a queue of people, apparently all competing for the same position, she'd had plenty of time to think. The Doctor had chosen her, she hadn't been the first or the last person, but he'd chosen her to travel with him, no real interview required, just a little on the job trial she supposed. It hadn't lasted long, but it was a time of her life that would stay with her forever. 

The library on the other hand, seemed to struggle to pick, if it had sent for at least a hundred people to fill one position, prestigious or not. What, she'd wondered, would be the thing that swayed the choice. 

It was strange, walking into the large echoey room, confronted by a woman who was obviously aiming for intimidating, and feeling more than a little underwhelmed. No one else, she'd thought, waiting in that queue, had ever stepped foot on another planet.

What made her think she was the Librarian? Nothing. She wasn't. She wouldn't be. If anything, the title, the way the woman said it, had just made her chest ache for her old friend. 

She had smiled, apologized, explained that clearly there had been some sort of a mix up, she wasn't suited, and someone, out of their many options, would be a far better choice. 

The woman, Charlene she'd later learned, how clearly been thrown, but Judson hadn't been. 

She was right, he'd said, ignoring Charlene's muttered objections, she wasn't going to be the Librarian, she'd already had, was already living her own wondrous adventure, quite separate from theirs. 

That said, they did have an offer for her. 

And that was how she'd found herself with access to the library, or at least the annexe, the entrance hidden away in a railway bridge in Southend. 

-

The Library broadens her horizons, just as much as the Doctor had. It helps her, supports her, hunting down references, providing answers whenever she's run out of leads to track down out in the world. 

She runs into Librarians and their Guardians, on and off, and she tries not to think about how many she's met over the years. She knows, thanks to a few halting conversations with Charlene, that Librarians never last long, and she wonders. 

Would she, even with her life experience, have managed to survive any longer than they? What type of person would the Library have chosen to be her Guardian?

Would she have been able to move on? To develop that type of a bond, in the midst of all that excitement and danger, for a second time?

She sets herself up a room, away from the reading room where the Librarian's desk seems to be forever shifting, gathers relevant materials, laughs at Charlene's stubborn insistence that aliens are not the answer. Judson asks, just the once, in his quiet way, that she not tell any of the Librarians otherwise. There are after all, quite enough earthly threats for them to deal with, without throwing in aliens. 

She agrees, without hesitation. There are other people, like her, who are perfectly capable of dealing with the aliens, and what they leave behind. 

Over the years Sarah Jane carefully keeps it all separate, occasionally sending UNIT down the wrong trail to give a Librarian time enough to collect the magical item actually causing the issues, one time she even gets a helping hand of her own from an ex-UNIT Guardian. 

But then, there's Mr Smith. Once he's built, once she'd settled post the Doctor and Rose, Mr Smith changes things, there's less need to visit the Library, until Luke. 

She asks, Judson rather than Charlene, if she might bring him to the annexe, and the answer is the gentlest no she has ever received. 

And she knows better than to ask why.


	2. Regency

There are a great many doors in the Library. 

Sarah Jane learns that early on in her exploration of the Library's many rooms, the corridor of doors drawing a laugh from her. There are as many similarities between the Library and TARDIS as there are differences. 

Judson keeps her from just opening doors, something the Doctor had always encouraged, directing her instead to the lists written by past Librarians, detailing what they know about each door, even in some cases the stories behind their creation. 

Some are never to be opened, even if they stand unlocked, the Sun room in particular, while others draw her curiosity. A few hours in an endless garden, a few minutes spent in pure darkness, and then, the Warehouse. 

There aren't any alarms, no sirens alerting anyone to her presence, but the door does slam shut behind her, leaving her to take in the labyrinth of shelving, carefully catalogued artefacts tagged in a way not dissimilar to Library. It's cooler, more impersonal than the Library, and as she explores the racks she notices the other differences. 

This place is based around science, not magic. There are no ghosts in this place, just stone tapes. 

She retreats back through the door after a mere half hour of exploration, needing to return to the warmer, friendlier stacks of the Library. 

Through it isn't long before she can't resist the urge to return.

-

Sarah Jane knew it was only a matter of time before she would be caught on one of her visits. 

The strange thing was, she didn't always come through the same door. Each time, it seemed to take her to a different place within the same space, giving her a different section of shelving, and a different selection of artefacts, to take in, but the fourth time, it wasn't just the artefacts that were present in the aisle.

“Hello, I'm Leena” Sarah Jane stumbled, a little, in the face of the young woman standing just inches from the doorway, all too aware of the blush spreading over of her cheeks as the door swung shut behind her. 

“Hello, I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting...”

The woman, Leena, smiles, edging back just a little to give Sarah Jane space, “No, I know, you aren't from around here.”

“I'm sorry?”

“You're going to have to come with me,” Leena sounds almost apologetic.

“I'm Sarah Jane Smith, and I'm very sorry, I just found the door where I work and...” It's not entirely a lie. 

Leena smiles again, “We both know this isn't the first time you've been in the Warehouse.”

Sarah Jane sighs, then shakes her head, “No, it isn't.” She hesitates, “I don't mean any harm.”

“I know, the Warehouse would have alerted us to your presence if you did,” There's a layer of something behind the words, but Sarah Jane doesn't know enough about this place to decipher it. The familiar thrill of exploration is back and she mentally scolds herself. There's no back up, if this goes badly. 

“Please, come with me.” Leena leads the way through the maze of shelving and up to an office. 

There's a man glaring at a computer screen and even more artefacts scattered across all of the surfaces, it takes Leena touching the man's shoulder for him to realise he isn't alone. 

“What...oh, hello, you must be our visitor.” He squints at her over the top of his glasses, pushing his chair away from the desk and free rolling a little way. “Nice of you to finally introduce yourself.”

Sarah Jane offers him her best journalist smile, holding out a hand, “My name is Sarah Jane Smith, and I found a doorway to this Warehouse in a Library.”

The man stares at her, mouth open for a long moment, apparently deaf to the muted giggle from Leena. “You found a doorway to the Warehouse in a library?”

“Yes.” Sarah Jane replies. 

“Sarah Jane, this is Artie Nielson.” Leena says, drawing a glare from Artie. 

“Did you touch anything, while visiting?” Artie asks, and she lowers her hand. 

“No, I know better than to touch things clearly marked with warnings.” Sarah Jane replies, earning another glare. 

“You noticed that your door doesn't always open in the same place?”

She nods, “I noticed, it's always in the same place in the Library, but I don't know if it's connecting to different doors here each time.”

“The door moves.” Leena replies, her attention on Sarah Jane, and her expression more intense, head tilted a little to the side. “You've travelled.”

Sarah Jane can't help but laugh, “Widely.” She glances between the two of them, debating. If this had been for a story, instead of just her own interest, she might have held back, or asked more direct questions, but the Warehouse reminds her too much of the Library. “And I suspect I've jumped realities.”

“Through a door in a library?!?” Artie's quick to scoff, and she can't help but roll her eyes even as Leena taps him on the shoulder. 

“I think, this is your universe's version of the Library.” She's sure Charlene wouldn't be impressed with her, but the more she's thought about it, the harder it's been to deny that conclusion, “You collect artefacts and store them, keeping the world safe.”

Artie stares at her again, before he nods slowly, “Yes, we do, and this, Library, of yours is the same?”

She nods, “Yes, only unlike here, it's more magic than science.”

Artie's expression darkens a little, “People have called it magic here too, but we understand it better.”

Sarah Jane smiles, “I have an old friend who says the same thing.”

Artie nods, seemingly recognising that she's not going to start talking about magic, “Our boss asked to be informed when you reappeared. We've caught you on the cameras, it was frustrating that somehow your presence didn't trip our alarms...”

She accepts the warning, bowing her head, “I'm sorry, I honestly didn't know where I was, but curiosity kept bringing me back.”

Artie's gaze is calculating, but he just gestures her to follow Leena, who takes her out, into a desert and then into a car for the drive into the closest town. 

Mrs Frederic, or Irene as she insists after the initial flurry of questions, had not reacted to Sarah Jane's presence in the way she'd expected. She'd seemed amused if anything, and seemingly aware of the nature of her arrival. 

“I'll be honest with you, Sarah Jane, we're interested in a sharing of information.”

“Between your Warehouse and my Library?” Sarah Jane asks.

Irene nods, “Yes, when we examined the door, the readings suggested, as you suspect, that it is a doorway between realities, for a lack of a better word.”

“Some of the artefacts I've seen on your shelves are similar to some I've seen in the Library.” Sarah Jane agrees, tapping a finger idly against her cup, “You must understand, I'm not the Librarian, so I can't make any promises.”

Irene nods after a moment of gazing intently across the table, “Talk to whoever you need to, that's all I ask.” 

Sarah Jane nods, “I will, you have my word.” They spend an hour in quiet conversation then Artie collects her and herds her back to the door, letter for Charlene in hand. 

The second time, after Artie grumps and accepts the ream of notes Judson had sent with her, Irene's gaze is heavier. 

She places her cup gently on the table and rests her hands on it's surface, “You do realise, if you keep visiting the Warehouse like this, there is going to have to be a serious conversation.” 

Sarah Jane smiles, cradling her cup in both hands, “Maybe, but I'll handle it when it comes.”

Leena's laugh carries through from the kitchen, drawing a faintly amused smile from Irene.


	3. Pure Knight

There is more than one annexe. 

Or at least, in other versions of the world, the annexe isn't always in the same place. The Library isn't even always the Library as she knew it, through it is far more common than the Warehouse.

The first time she'd stepped through this particular door, she'd found herself under a spotlight, surrounded by darkened shelves. Another light flickered on a moment later, just a few metres away. An invitation, or a guide. 

She barely hesitated before stepping forward, following the lights as they flicked on, then off once she was past, guiding her through the Library and to a mirror of the reading room she knew. 

There was a little more clutter, more devices laid on surfaces where she was used to just books. 

She was stepping towards the table to examine one when a man entered, muttering to himself, and she stilled. There was a touch of the Doctor about him, tall, smartly dressed and distracted, and she couldn't help but smile. The Library had obviously brought her to him, and she couldn't help but wonder why. 

“Hello.”

He startled, almost dropping the book in his hands, one hand flying to his chest, “My...who are you and how did you get in here?”

“Sarah Jane Smith, through the purple door in the west wing, and the Library guided me to you.” She answered patiently, smiling and watching as the man composed himself, his eyes narrowing a little. 

“Well, Sarah Jane Smith, I'm Jenkins and this is my annexe,” he paused, eyeing her, “and you are neither a Librarian nor a Guardian.”

Sarah Jane grinned, “Well actually, I did receive an invitation, but I declined. I'm like you, I have an annexe.” 

He stared at her, nonplussed for a moment before he huffed a laugh, shaking his head, “You said the purple door?”

“Yup,” She smiled, “there was only a vague note that it led to the Library, and I wondered if it meant another Library, and here I am.”

He returned the smile, “In another Library, apparently.” Jenkins moved closer, tapping the spine of the book on the table idly, “But from your tone, you mean, an alternate Library?” 

Sarah Jane smiled, recognising his interest, “It seems so, it's not the first time either.”

“Really?” Jenkins perked up, then deflated a little, glancing at the tables around him, “Hmmm...”

“Oh, come on, I'm sure all this can wait a little longer,” Sarah Jane bounced in a place a little, keen to encourage the man that the Library clearly felt needed some kind of a nudge, “I haven't got long before I have to head back.” And, maybe, she was happy to have a chance to entertain a man who reminded her, just a little, of her dear old friend.

Jenkins eyed her suspiciously for a moment before he relented, “There are a few things I must collect first, for a proper examination...”

-

Ultimately, Jenkins was a surprise and a delight. They spent a good few hours examining the door, through she couldn't offer much in the way of science knowledge, he seemed to like having someone to bounce ideas off. 

He visited her a few times after that, and she was certain he visited sometimes when she wasn't in her annexe. He had a tendency to leave things in her room, notes or books he thought might be of help to her. Sometimes he even left bait to draw her to him, wanting answers to whatever mystery he had left for her to discover.

He drew stories out of her, of her time with the Doctor, what she knew about her Library, the differences between their worlds. She wasn't surprised when he explained that his world certainly didn't seem to have a Doctor, or at least not one who had made himself quite so visible as her own. 

Her most memorable visit involved meeting his reality's Nessie, who didn't at all compare to her own. Or at least, the version she had encountered. She does occassionally wonder if maybe, one like his exists in her universe too.

It took her far more time to manage to drag his story from him, through he'd always been more willing to talk about his past when he was in her reality. And the more she learned, the more she understood why. 

In her world, the same legends were told, but the 'realities' of Arthur's time are not the same. Whatever it was, whatever it had been, that had made Jenkins what he was, it never happened in her world.  
She wasn't even sure if there ever was a Jenkins in her world, and it saddened her, though he had been quick to scold her, pointing out that surely, if he had existed, she would have encountered him long before she'd stepped through that door. 

Later, she asked the network, reached out to Jack Harkness especially, knowing that if anyone knew the answer, it would be the ex time agent. The answer was a laugh, and a string of comments about the crazy Arthurian stories, and how could anyone ever think it was true, instead of a pretty myth. 

Sarah Jane had smiled to herself, and never corrected him. 

She did, instead, tell Luke and Sky both, stories about Arthur, and Galahad the purest knight. Both children had made all manner of comments, and she had laughed, continuing through Jenkins' tales. In a different world, she told them, it all happened, and she had seen the proof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took some liberities in some places, and made it connecting realities to include the shows in ways that I hope work!
> 
> There's so much crossover between artefacts with Warehouse 13 and the Librarians that it just seemed to make sense that they would be alternate versions of the same thing (they even have similiarites when it comes to timeline, caretakers and movement over the years! And endless wonders.) Ditto, with Doctor Who and The Librarians, some things don't quite match so a bit of a step to a left to find Jenkins ;)
> 
> I hope this is something like you were hoping for.


End file.
